Work-Related Surprise

[bjarvis]

It's a good surprise this time! :-)

I've just been approved for a $350 one-time performance bonus, to appear in my next paycheck.

At the moment, I have no idea who nominated me or why, but I'll take it.

Comments

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

Hey, if it were me, I know what I'd do with it. Begin getting the things I need to upgrade the ol' PC or better yet, put it towards the truck.

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

Oh, and by the way, congrats! :-)

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Like most of the other small bonuses and revenues from dance calling, the bulk will go to reducing the household line of credit. I'm still thinking of a MacBook for my birthday but that can wait for another couple of months.

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

Oh normally I would too but to do anything serious with editing, I need to beef up this PC's innards big time.

But in the end, I would probably do as you say, use it to pay down debts.

[gingy.livejournal.com]

That's a lot of chocolate sundaes. Good job!

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, sundaes... there's a great idea!

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! The words "token" and "booby prize" come to mind. I suspect you are really underpaid by tens of thousands and this kind of lollypop prize is intended to keep you from wondering how well you might fare elsewhere. But that's just cynical me.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

My actual work has drifted so far away from my real job description that I have no idea what an appropriate pay level would be anymore. I consider myself overpaid as a UNIX Administrator yet since I'm hardly much of a sysadmin anymore, that's not an especially good metric.

Ah, well... my income has finally caught up with my best year as a contractor (2002) so I'm a happier camper than I have been in a while.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

You're doing high-level work. A certain friend we have in common is getting paid more than 4x as much as a contractor for work that is not that different, and looking at job offers in the 2x-3x range.

The problem with being taken for granted in a large company is that they know inertia works in their favor, and that they can throw you small bones to avoid having to recognize how you have morphed into a much less expendable employee. While you can try to get recognition of your role in job title and salary by asking, companies rarely pay attention unless there is a competitive threat for your services. I'd seriously talk to some recruiters and develop a plausible alternative position elsewhere and then frankly discuss the mismatch between what you do and what you're paid with the (desperate to keep good people) company you work for.

[travelingcub.livejournal.com]

Woo hoo, go you!

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

How many sundaes is that?

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

102.94, including taxes.

[jss]

Dancing rodents!

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

"...a $350 one-time performance bonus..."

Is that sexually-related? Wow, that's hawt!